Harry Potter and the Tempest of Conviction
by navystrawhat
Summary: Fanfic about Harry Potter in his fifth year. There will be a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher as usual.


**DISCLAIMER: Anything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling**

**This is my first fanfic so there may be very many spelling or grammatic errors because English is not my first language. (if you see some, feel free to tell me.) And it might also be not so good too, if I need to add that too.**

**Enjoy!**

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- CHAPTER ONE –

**_Harry's New Friend_**

Just like every other year, what Harry hated most was the summer holidays, which was very unusual for a boy. However not every child wakes up one day and discovers that he or she is a wizard or witch. This was something that the Dursleys kept secret and Harry only found out when Hagrid, the gamekeeper at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, stormed into their home. Harry, who was lying on his bed and looking outside his window, couldn't wait any longer until it was September the first then he could finally see all his friends again and start his fifth year at Hogwarts. But for now, he was stuck with his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and their son Dudley whose body resembled that one of a pig. Harry sighed at the thought and closed his eyes.

"Just a few more days to go." he said to himself, trying to keep his spirits up and while doing so, he heard a loud screeching noise from outside. Harry hopped out of bed and leaned on the sill to take a look outside. It was a flock of birds, black crows to be more precise, and they were flying towards the forest that was located in their neighborhood. Feeling trapped in his own home, Harry grabbed his coat, waved goodbye to Hedwig and ran down the stairs only to find his Uncle Vernon in the hallway, blocking the door.

"What did I say about making too much noise?" Uncle Vernon asked, clearly trying to hold his temper at the sight of seeing his good-for-nothing nephew in his home.

"I'm sorry." Harry said in a nonchalant way.

"Didn't I tell you before? We all have important roles to play in this family – yes even you – which clearly isn't working out when you have to take care of the remains of those cursed parents of yours!" Uncle Vernon cried in anger.

"Don't talk about my parents like that!" Harry yelled back.

The thing he hated most about living with the Dursleys was not because they pretended that Harry didn't exist or that they would lock him up in his room for weeks. No, none of that seem to matter when the Dursleys would speak ill of his parents. James and Lily Potter were Harry's dad and mom. They died protecting their son from the most feared dark wizard in the world known as Lord Voldemort. He could still remember the bright, green light from Voldemort's wand, a light that should've killed him years ago but failed because Harry was still alive, standing in the Dursleys' hallway, arguing with his uncle for the hundredth time.

"And where do you think you're going?" Uncle Vernon asked with a nasty look on his face.

"I'm going out for a walk."

"No, you won't! I won't let you! The last I want is for the neighbors to see you walking out our front door!"

Harry, sick of this pointless conversation they were having, grabbed his wand out of his coat and pointed it at his uncle whose face turned pale in a matter of seconds.

"Y-you can't use magic in our world! You'll get expelled!"

"Who says they will find out?" Harry asked.

Uncle Vernon who was first leaning against the front door, carefully stepped aside, still trembling with fear.

"F-fine!" he cried. "You can go outside but make sure no one sees you!"

The moment his uncle moved away from the door, Harry put his wand back in his coat. Of course he never meant to hurt anyone but unfortunately this was the only way any of the Dursleys will listen to him. Just when Harry wanted to grab the doorknob, Uncle Vernon pushed Harry against the door and his face was so close to Harry's he could feel his breathe against his nose.

"Listen very carefully, you little brat! I will not let you drag this family's name into more shame than it already is. I don't care what you do at that crazy school where all those other freaks like you go to but this is my house! My house and my rules! So when you go outside, don't even try to do something funny, got it?!"

When Uncle Vernon was finally done speaking, his face was as red as a tomato but then again this was the only face Harry knew so maybe a rotten tomato would fit better this time.

"You remember very well what your roll is in this family, Potter!"

Harry, who was stuck with his back against the door, couldn't find a way out of this.

"Keep quiet and deny my very existence." Harry replied.

"That's right! Now _hush_." As he waved his hand towards the door as if his nephew was a dog who got permission to go outside. "I don't want to spend another second wasting my breath on you."

And neither does Harry. So with that he went outside, finally away from the Dursleys, and walked in the direction of the forest.

The sky was grey and the sun was hidden behind the dark clouds.

Such gloomy weather he thought, maybe it was better to have stayed inside but he couldn't just turn back now, not after that ugly he decided to walk forwards with the Dursleys house slowly disappearing in the background. It was quite a long walk and once in the forest, harry took a deep breathe to inhale some fresh air. It felt good to be here because it reminded him a little bit of the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts but without the centaurs, unicorns and rumored werewolves who could attack you any moment. What he missed most about Hogwarts were his best friends Ron and Hermoine. He hadn't heard from them ever since he received a letter from Ron who wrote that he was spending the holidays with his family in Spain and one from Hermoine saying that she was staying at Greece with her parents. Harry couldn't help but feel a little jealous, he wished he could go someplace nice and enjoy the summer holidays with his parents but clearly that wasn't possible. Harry went deeper into the forest and noticed that the ground was still dirty and wet from the heavy rainfall that occurred yesterday.

Suddenly Harry heard a noise of breaking twigs. He looked behind him but there was nothing there. As he walked further, the noise of walking footsteps seemed to be following him. He looked around carefully but nothing was in front of him so this thing must be following him from behind. He stopped and slowly turned around but again no one was there. Maybe he was imagining things? It was true that Harry spent most of his days in his room, trying to avoid any interaction with the Dursleys so maybe the fresh air was overwhelming him if that was even possible.

Continuing his walk, he heard the noise had stopped so he was a little more at ease. Now that he thought of it, he shouldn't wander off too far. This forest was rather big and dense so getting lost was definitely not a rare situation. Just when Harry was about to head back, he turned around and found himself standing a few inches away from a huge, grey dog that was eyeing him intensely that the moment Harry made a move that dog was ready to attack him.

What was a dog like that doing in the forest anyway he wondered.

Harry, who still hadn't moved an inch, didn't know what to do as he wasn't allowed to use magic in the Muggle world. The only thing he could do was run to the closest tree and climb. And so he did, Harry rushed towards a big tree with a mad dog sprinting behind him. He grabbed hold of a thick branch and pulled himself up. Almost safe from the barking dog who jumping at him, he felt a sudden weigh pulling him back down. Harry looked down and saw that the grey dog had managed to grab his coat. He tried his best to hold on and then before he knew it, his coat ripped in two. One piece was still hanging on Harry's body while the other half was lying on the wet ground.

"Great." Harry said annoyed. "If this dog isn't going to kill me, Aunt Petunia will."

And before he realized it not only a piece of cloth was lying there, Harry's wand as well. He completely forgot his wand was still inside his coat! It was too dangerous to grab it now so the only solution was to sit back and wait until the dog leaves. Hopefully it will get bored with him and just leave, that always seems to work when Dudley used to chase him around. But unfortunately for Harry, an hour or two had passed when he opened his eyes. He seemed to have fallen asleep since he didn't get much sleep last night when Dudley was making a big fuss about the loud thunder that scared him. Harry got up cautiously to make sure he didn't fall off the tree. His entire body was stiff as he slept in such an uncomfortable place. It was getting dark and Harry still had to walk back home. The Dursleys probably thought he got eaten by some giant beast along the way and were celebrating his absence over dinner. Harry felt miserable. He looked down to see if the dog was still there but it was nowhere to be seen. He carefully put his foot on the branch below him and tied to grab a twig next to him. When all of a sudden the twig he was holding on to snapped and Harry lost his balance. He got hold of another twig that seemed as weak as the other one but did not break. The twig that felt to the ground made the situation harder for Harry because before he could reach the ground the same grey dog was back again, barking at him like it did last time. It seemed that it never left the place and the broken twig had caught its attention so right now nothing had changed much as it was 2 hours earlier. The next moment something unexpected happened. Something attacked the dog that was barfing at him but he couldn't make out what it was. It had a similar figure like that dog but a little smaller. After some vicious growls and cries, the dog went back to the same spot but when Harry looked closer it wasn't the grey dog he saw beneath him, it was a red fox! That must be the creature that attacked the dog. That's terrific, now instead of a dog, a fox was ready to eat him alive. Harry thought the situation couldn't get any worse and just then he saw the fox snuffling through his coat and found his wand.

"No! Don't touch that! Go!" Harry yelled in an attempt to scare it away.

But his shouts weren't working at all as the fox picked up his wand and made a run for it. Harry, fully panicked, jumped off the tree and ran after the animal that stole his wand. He could hardly see in the dark and often stumbled over roots of the surrounding trees.

After a lot of chasing Harry found himself outside the forest and a bit further was the same fox that stole his wand. When he walked towards it, it gently put down his wand on the ground and waited for him. Harry kneeled down on one knee and picked up his wand. The fox looked him in the eye, unlike that grey dog, it didn't have a vicious look but a rather friendly one.

"Hello," Harry said in a gentle voice. "Did you grab my wand because you wanted to show me the way out of the forest?"

But it was obvious that the red fox didn't understand him because he tilled his little head to the left, looking puzzled at Harry.

On his way home to the Dursleys, the little fox had been following Harry around like a dog that'd been taking a walk with his boss.

"I know you can't understand me," Harry began. "But thank you for helping me back there. I honestly wouldn't know how long I'd be stuck there."

The fox look at him and let out a small moan and Harry simply smiled back .


End file.
